tc hawken kit

[mukwonago]

hi all,i tried doing a search on this but it would'nt let me,i just joined tonight so maybe im doing something wrong.
anyway my question is:i have a tc 50 cal caplock kit coming and would like to antique the barrel and brass.
the barrel is already blued but is there anything that can use without removing the existing
thanks for any help

[quickdtoo]

Welcome to GBO! You're not doing anything wrong, the search is disabled until the Webmaster gets the data base indexed, should be done later this week, hopefully, it just takes time.

As to your questions, I've not browned a blued barrel, only started with bare metal in the white, brass will tarnish by itself over time, it may have a varnish coating on it which should be removed to allow it to aquire a patina. A little blackpowder fouling on fresh brass wil darken it quite well.

Tim

[SDS-GEN]

Many colors can be achieved on brass, the colors are called patina.  different chemical compositions produce different colors.  For a darkened brown to gray look try liver of sulpher or acid jewelry antique (also called silver black).  The most natural "antique" look will occur by polishing the brass with rouge or fabuluster on a cotton buff and then letting it tarnish naturally over time.  If the brass has laquer or polyurethane coating use acetone to remove it (but make sure the brass is not assembled to the wood).  There are blueing removers available from midway or brownells.  I don't know anything about browning a barrel.

[captchee]

yep as SDS said .
 this also goes for the barrel .  browning became popular in the  19 century  earlier guns were either blued "which is not the same blue we have today " or left in the white. There is some documentation to support browning  in the 18th century but  not in the amounts of later .
 if left in the white , over time you will get this marble type of patina  ranging from brown to black to light gray. It will eventually even out to a nice warm gray color .
 You can somewhat get this by using bleach on the out side of you barrel . If let set it will also lighten the factory bluing .
 Browning isn’t hard to do  if you decide to go that route
 Have fun with your kit , enjoy the build , dont rush and the work will pay off

[mukwonago]

thanks for the reply's guys.I am new to traditional muzzleloading,in fact this kit is my first step,and I'm
looking forward to learning all i can.
Does anyone have a lead on a book or video that is a step by step on ml kits?? i'm a plasterer by trade
and my woodworking skills reflect that.Any other tips tricks or advice welcome

thanks again

[captchee]

Most of the books out there are  for more custom builds  however  the basic build is the same just from a more basic form
. I would consider picking up the following all are very good books
recreating the American long rifle by Shumway
The art of building  the Pennsylvania long rifle  by Dixon
The gunsmith of Greenville County  by Peter  Alexander

 Shumways book was the first on the subject I ever bought . Its not a fancy as a lot of the newer  ones but has the same basic information

[zermatt7]

check your personal messages ...

[Birddog6]

The kit will have the instruction of how to build the rifle with it. It is basically sand, finish,  & assemble from the ones I have seen.  You won't need the above mentioned books to do this rifle as there is no building, it is an assembly kit.

Now if you decide to build a rifle from parts, then the above books are a must  IMHO,  as otherwise you may have invest $800 in parts & end up with a $200 rifle   

  Since you are also new into ML'ing, I suggest you buy the Lyman Black Powder Handbook and become familiar with what you are about to get into. Good book for a newbie & will answer lots of questions.   

[captchee]

yep true statements birddog

[Swamp Yankee]

    I built a TC Hawken from a kit a number of years ago. The barrel comes finished but the brss isn't. You'll have to spend some time buffing it out. As far as the stock do yourself a favor.....get some grain filler. If you rely on something like True Oil to fill the grain it will take a month of Sundays to do. Good luck, Jim